Wicca isn't "What you want it to be".

Someone made a point in a forum to point out what a Wiccan is and isn't. In a sense he hit it on the mark. Many people who "claim" to be Wiccan, state that " I'm a Wiccan! Even though I don't know how to interpret the rede for the life of me, I wouldn't know what an element was if I drowned in it, and I never do magick for personal gain. Now if you'll excuse me I have to go practice some white magic so I can banish some black magic, while I celebrate the goddess flavor of the week..." (This being a direct quote from him, and I found it quite humorous, because it's true.

There are so many people who misinterpret Wicca as something that can be moulded into whatever you want it to be, and that's just not so.

My issue with what he has to say, though: That one is only Wiccan if they're "Trad Wicca". No...not necessarily. One is Wiccan when they embrace the Wiccan beliefs and practices wholeheartedly, not in bits and pieces (like embracing the Rede, but only following one Goddess; or believing that white magic is the only magic you can do, never dark magic; or that one can't do anything for personal gain, lest it come back negatively threefold (ok, that's not necessarily a bit or piece, but it's a misinterpretation)). Initiation doesn't determine your beliefs and what you're going to do, it just means that you decided to become a part of a particular set of Wiccan beliefs within a coven construct. You CAN be a Wiccan outside a coven setting, so long as you practice what is considered actual Wicca. We forget the numerous ACTUAL Wiccans throughout history who, after being taught by Gardner, became solitaries themselves! Just because someone chooses not to work with others in their religious beliefs, DOESN'T mean they're not Wiccan...it just means they're Solitary.


***UPDATE***
I guess I stirred up a hornet's nest with my response to this one (yes, I did post my response to this discussion in the forum). The thread go so bad, admins had to close the discussion lmao. It just goes to show that people get WAY too touchy when it comes to beliefs. For a religion that prides itself on "tolerance for other's beliefs" they sure have no tolerance for someone questioning anything relating to Wicca.